Aug 28, 2014 - East Georgia Regional Medical Center (EGRMC) and Emory University today announced they will bring the region’s most skilled intensive care to Statesboro’s sickest patients via telemedicine. The collaboration is part of a $10.7 million dollar award from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center to Emory University’s Center for Critical Care for its project “Rapid Training and Deployment of Non-Physician Providers in Critical Care.”

“Bringing Emory expertise via advanced telemedicine to EGRMC helps everyone,” according to Bob Bigley, President of EGRMC. “Having Emory expertise available to support our care is just another example of our commitment to providing high quality care today – and better outcomes tomorrow “– for the patients and families we serve.”

“Emory is proud to work with critical care physicians and nurses at EGRMC to help make comprehensive critical care available to Statesboro’s families in their community hospital,” said Timothy G. Buchman, PhD, MD, Director of Emory’s Critical Care Center. Over a year ago, Emory and EGRMC started planning the project. EGRMC’s ICU Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, April Hargett, came to Emory for six months’ advanced training in critical care. Meanwhile, Emory and EGRMC began installing dedicated, private data services that will carry medical, monitor and laboratory data as well as providing secure high-definition audio-video connections into each patient’s room in EGRMC’s ICU. “The training was amazing,” remarked Hargett,

“Our ICU director, Diana Ray, and our ICU staff are really looking forward to taking advantage of this new clinical service that keeps patients and families close to home.”

“Delivering the right care, right now, every time is not just a goal. It’s our standard,” said Cheryl Hiddleson, MSN, RN, CCRN-E, who is operations director of the Emory tele[n2] -ICU facility. “Our nurses help April and her team monitor patients around the clock, and our Emory intensive care doctors are on duty throughout the night, on weekends and on holidays.”

"Pushing this eLert button provides instantaneous access to our experienced staff who are standing by,” Hiddleson said, referring to a large button in every ICU patient room. “The system of monitoring, alerting, and immediate support can help save lives.”